Every tree starts out a seed, then a sapling, but with proper support and conditions, that sapling might just become a woodland giant.
The Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Mississippi inducted returning members into its Hall of Fame and honored standout students Thursday night at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb.
“All of these people we’re about to induct, they’ve grown up in the Boys & Girls Club,” Director of Operations Marcus Pittman said.
Christopher Daniels of Summit graduated from McComb High School in 2005 and works with Craft Funeral Home.
“The journey begins with a single step,” Daniels said. “Marcus singlehandedly is the reason I was in the Boys & Girls Club — and I love you, man.”
Daniels said he wouldn’t be the same person without his experience growing up in theclub.
“That made me who you see today,” he said. “Thank you, Marcus. I’m truly humbled by this.”
Sanderson Farms Quality Assurance Manager Michael Taylor of Summit graduated from McComb High School in 2008. He said influential family members and guidance from Pittman contributed to his success.
“I want to say thanks to God, but first and foremost to my family,” he said. “Family is where it starts.”
He said support from his family impacted his time in the club.
“I have a lot of great, strong women in my family,” he said. “What they taught me at home, it carried over to the Boys & Girls Club.”
Taylor said Pittman made a difference in his life.
“He showed me an example of what a man should be,” he said. “And I appreciate you, Mr. Marcus.”
Taylor presented a $2,500 donation on behalf of Sanderson Farms of Waco, Texas, and donated another $250 personally. Then he gave Pittman and Chief Professional Officer Randy Tate gift cards to Santa Fe Cattle Co.
“I want you two to go have a dinner on me,” Taylor said.
“You can come back here anytime,” Tate said through a laugh and a smile.
New Orleans Saints Equipment Manager Desmond Smith of Tylertown graduated from Tylertown High School in 2010. He said the Boys & Girls Club gave him the confidence to succeed.
“Growing up, I thought I wasn’t going anywhere,” he said. “But anything is possible.”
Smith had a message for younger members of the club: “Stay in school, get y’all’s grades up. You can go a long way. Take it from me — just a little guy from Tylertown.”
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Melvin S. Jackson, of Ft. Benning, Ga., graduated from McComb High School in 1996. He started attending the Boys & Girls Club in 1991 as a seventh-grader.
“I’m truly honored to be here,” Jackson said. “The future starts here.”
He said the club made an impact on his life from an early age.
“That was home,” he said. “And it was love.”
He said told club members that the way they approach challenges makes a difference.
“We take what we have for granted,” he said. “The positive energy that you want has to come from inside. My heart is filled as I see what the future is all about.”
Tristyl McInnis, a prosecutor in Ft. Bend, Texas, grew up in Tylertown before moving to McComb after her family’s home burned. She graduated from McComb High School in 2001.
“Thank you to the Boys & Girls Club. It feels so good to be recognized,” she said, adding that she considered the club to be family. “I felt like that was my family. I am from Tylertown and that’s a big part of who I am. And I give credit to my family for everything.”
She said kids who work hard will succeed.
“Whatever challenges you have, you can overcome them,” she said. “You’re unique, you’re more than enough. So let the world see that.”
The club recognized 12 members as Youths of the Month — Tania Coleman, Alisha Tucker, Justice Brown, Asia Lamkin, Amyrikal Youngblood, Jayden James, Charles Nathaniel, Amir Gilmore, Da’Lan Hill, Johnquan Brister, Azaria Williams and Delquanna Nunnery, who was named Youth of the Year.
Nunnery, 16, of McComb said she hopes to attend Belhaven University to study criminal justice. She said she was raised by her grandparents and struggled with bullying.
“You can’t change the past,” she said. “You have to look to the future.”
“You guys out there, I can’t say enough about,” Tate said. “I love all you guys. You are our future.”
Tate presented board president Vickie Webb with a lifetime board membership award for her many years of service and another service award to Walthall County Unit Director Gloria Cowart.
“We’ve come a long way from those days of just a shell of a building,” Webb said. “You are our future.”
“The kids are my heart,” Cowart said.
